As many as 35,000 advocates all over the State in Jharkhand lodged their protest by keeping themselves away from judicial works during the day-long ‘pen down strike’ on Friday against the shootout which took place on Wednesday in Jamshedpur Court killing one person on the spot. The decision was taken by Jharkhand State Bar Council during an emergency meeting called on Thursday where the advocates observed that the police have been negligent in providing proper security to the court campuses due to which such incidents were taking place repeatedly in the State.
“More than 35,000 advocates today kept themselves away from all kind of judicial works and handed over memorandum to DC, SP and Principal District Judges in various districts demanding adequate security in the court campuses,” said Vice Chairman of Jharkhand State Bar Council Rajesh Kumar Shukla. They assured the delegations that adequate security forces will be deployed in the court campuses, he added.
The Council demanded concrete boundary walls around the court campuses and check points at every entry points. It also asked for entry passes for advocates and other staffs putting a check on the entry of unwanted elements into the court campuses, said Shukla.
Meanwhile, about 2000 members of Jamshedpur Bar Association also remained away from judicial works for the second consecutive day today as they stayed away from legal work to protest the shootout incident at the bar building in Sitaramdera on Wednesday afternoon.
RN Das, president, Jamshedpur Bar Association (JBA) said they observed the strike for the second day today as they supported the call given by the Jharkhand State Bar Council President Rajiv Ranjan Pandey.
"Our State body has expressed concerns so we have decided to observe strike. We have made the district and sessions judge, Jamshedpur, BB Mangalmurthy aware about our strike today,” said Das.
The JBA president noted that they have no choice but to raise voice for safety. The litigants and their clients must have been facing inconvenience due to the strike.